We didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
That’s what they always say in the shows.
I never realized how true it actually was.
And yet… here we are, sitting on the floor of this abandoned warehouse. Me, Eloise, and this poor unfortunate shell of a girl who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s such a cliche.
”We have to hide the body.” Eloise’s cold voice drew me out of my morbid thoughts.
”Hide the—we can’t hide the body, that’s illegal!”
”Yeah.” Her voice made me shiver. “Because any of this,” she said, gesturing around us dramatically, “is legal!”
I fell silent again.
How did we get here? How did we let this happen?
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five days ago
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I laughed as I dragged Eloise through the rubble on the beaten road. She glanced around nervously. “You’re sure this is safe?”
I turned to grin at her. ”Of course!” Of course she didn’t have to know about the countless other ‘friends’ I had brought here before.
We came to an old wire fence that probably kept people out at some point. We climbed through a tattered hole in the side. As I led her across the scattered remains of glass and storage containers and old gasoline barrels, she began to giggle. “This is so adventurous, and… romantic.”
We both smiled and laughed as I brought her to an enclosed corner and dragged her down to the ground with me.
It must’ve been at least half an hour later when we both heard a weird sort of coughing sound. Confused and out of breath, we turned toward the source of the noise. A girl.
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”WHY’D YOU HAVE TO BE SO STUPID!” I screamed. And then I screamed some more. I screamed half-baked thoughts and I screamed incoherent noises and at one point I started screaming curse words, until I was cut off by a cold, small hand gripping my arm.
”Shut up and get a hold of yourself!”
I looked over at her. How in the world was she staying so calm? “It sucks but it’s too late for her, and now we have to do something about it!”
I wanted to scream more. I almost kicked the body but I stopped myself at the last second. At least I have some respect for the dead.
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“We could burn the building…” Eloise thought aloud.
”Burn the… building?”
”Yeah… it would get rid of the evidence, right?”
I sank to the ground. This was all too much. Too much.
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five days ago
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”Who are you?” I asked the girl sharply. She looked to be around sixteen, though it was hard to tell with the dodgy lighting.
”I should be asking you that. I’m actually allowed to be here.”
We both stayed silent for a while, locked in an unspoken staring contest. To be completely honest I was quite impressed with the girl for being able to stand there, so unwavering, for so long in this more than awkward situation.
I decided to speak up first. “I thought this place was abandoned?”
”Yeah, I did too… which is why I was surprised to see two adults in here doing…” she trailed off but the meaning was clear.
Next to me Eloise shot up…
Well this was awkward.
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“So why are you allowed to be here of all people?” My voice was tinged with ice.
She turned away stubbornly, but answered anyway. “My parents own the building, if you must know. And no one else is supposed to be here… So again, why are you here?”
“Ugh, just a bit of fun, geez. We’ll leave, okay?”
I was surprised to feel a small hand on my back. “What if I don’t want to leave?”
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“Eloise, we can’t burn it down.”
”Why not?”
”I don’t… know.”
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four days ago
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”What are we supposed to do!” I yelled almost as soon as I noticed Eloise’s arrival at the door.
”I don’t know.” She shuffled awkwardly over to where we had tied the young girl up. “Here’s some food. McDonald’s. I hope you like chicken nuggets.”
I watched dreadfully as Eloise yanked the makeshift gag from her mouth. She didn’t say anything, just nodded and excepted the paper bag.
“This is all your fault! It’s your fault we’re in this situation, Eloise! Do something!”
She just rolled her eyes. “Stop it with the blame game already.”
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“I’m back with food!” Eloise shouted. I looked up to see her carrying a plastic carry-out bag. “Mom thinks I’m studying with a friend,” she added as she slid to the floor next to me.
The meal was quiet for the most part.
”How are you so calm?” I could barely force the dreadful whisper out of my throat.
”I’m not.” And she shrugged.
Teenagers scare the crap out of me.
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three days ago
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I tried to make conversation with the girl.
”So, what’s your name?”
”Lucy,” she replied. Straight to the point.
”How…” I hesitated. “How old are you?”
”Seventeen, not like it’s any business of yours… Then again, maybe it is. You seem to be into girls like me.”
After that I stopped trying to make small talk.
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“Just leave her alone already,” Eloise cut in, bouncing up and down. She’s so pathetic it makes me wanna scream.
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Maybe we should burn the building. Oh how delightful it would be to watch all of our problems burn, the remains blowing away in the wind. If only life could work like that.
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two days ago
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”I told you, I won’t tell anyone. I won’t tell a single soul! I swear on my life!” Lucy was sounding more and more desperate with every passing day.
”Shut up!” Eloise snapped, raising her arm. “Shut up, before I—“
”Hey, hey, chill out!” I exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling her back. “We’re not trying to hurt anybody, okay!” I relaxed and took a few steps back. “We just need some time to figure this all out...”
”Whatever.”
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I wonder if this is all just some horrible fever dream. Surely I’ll wake up soon… Yeah. Eloise, Lucy—they probably don’t even exist. Just some figments of my imagination.
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one day ago
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”Whoa, whoa, Eloise! What the—what—why do you have that?!”
Is that what I think it is?
”I stole it from my dad’s safe. Just in case.”
Upon hearing Lucy’s surprised sob I knew my nightmares had become my reality.
”Eloise, this is getting way too out of hand! We can’t shoot her for goodness’ sake!”
”Relax, it’s for the worst case scenario.”
I felt like I should probably take that from her, but to be honest, I was scared.
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A couple hours passed and I was just starting to drift off into a haunted state of sleep when I heard yelling.
I shot up, fearing for the worst.
And the worst is what I saw.
I sprinted forward, making an attempt to grab the loaded gun out of Eloise’s hand. “Stop, stop, sto—“
I’d never heard such a loud sound before.
It took a few seconds to process the crime that had just been committed. I looked at Eloise—at the way she stared in horror to her front. At the way she dropped the gun. The way she staggered back. Her face showed no signs of remorse.
Then, I looked at Lucy. She was pale. Far too pale. I didn’t even take notice to the gaping hole in her chest, or how the blood slowly seeped across her shirt and onto her lap. All I could see was her eyes. They were mocking me. Tantalizing me. Screaming at me that I was a monster. That this was my fault.
“NO! It wasn’t me!”
I couldn’t hear anything. Couldn’t think.
”What did you do?” My voice was barely a whisper.
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I heard the sirens outside the storage unit.
”How did they know…” Eloise whispered. I couldn’t tell if she was scared or pissed or both.
”I called them.”
”You what?”
”Anonymous tip, don’t worry. I have a plan.”
”Oh you have a plan? I’ve been the only one actively trying to fix this problem!”
Now it was my turn to play the calm and collected character. ”We’re going to blow the building up.”
She laughed—a short, bitter laugh. Rather unpleasant if you asked me. “It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?”
I stood up. I had come to peace with my decision hours ago.
None of this is even my fault, really. Not if you think about it.
“I already have everything planned out. We just need to dump the gasoline.” When I noticed her hesitation, I spoke up again. “You can either help me or get arrested. You’re choice, I guess.”
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We had everything prepared. Gasoline was covering every inch of this place—high and low—that we could manage. Eloise loitered further back, still not entirely sure what I had in mind. I appreciated the confidence.
I was standing towards the middle of the warehouse, holding only a small box of matches.
“It’ll be alright,” I reassured her.
I lied.
I scraped the wooden stick against the little white box as the officers started to rush in. I counted seven so far. Not that it made much of a difference.
The adrenaline felt exhilarating.
”PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR.”
The sirens blared.
Isn’t it funny how quickly one can spiral?
Behind me, I had a vague sense that someone was running toward me. I was really too disconnected to distinguish what’s real and not. Yelling. Crying. I felt the cold weight of desperation, clawing at any feeble attempt of life or hope it could imagine. Desperation for any fate other than the inevitable.
It was just a bit too late.
By the end of this, at least ten people will have died due to me. This wasn’t justice…
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It seems I am a man hated by justice.
”At least now, I can watch my problems burn.”
I laughed as the match hit the ground.
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